An Unsuspected Visit
by Affectionate
Summary: Orochimaru decides that he needs to pay Sasuke a visit since he hasnt come to him for power and is starting to worry that he won't.Oneshot OOC [Sasusaku]


**Sasusaku Oneshot**

In the Hidden Sound village, Orochimaru was feeling quite restless. He couldn't help but think that Sasuke really did have the cursed-seal under control and if he was getting stronger from training with Kakashi. Over all, he was expecting Sasuke to come to him sooner.

"Lord Orochimaru, what ails you?" Kabuto asked as he walked over to his master.

"Kabuto… I think it is time we check up on our Sasuke." Orochimaru replied with an evil grin on his face. "We need to make him realise he doesn't stand a chance to defeat his brother if he doesn't come to me."

"Yes… that seems fun…." Kabuto agreed.

---

It was a typical summer day in Konoha and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The birds flew happily and sang, the wind was gentle and the sun shone brightly. A little ways out of Konoha, in the forest, Sasuke and Sakura were training. Sasuke was helping Sakura perfect her taijutsu and weapons handling. Ever since they got back from their latest mission, Sakura realised she couldn't go on relying on her teammates to do all of the fighting. She was tired of being a nuisance.

Sakura approached Sasuke after they left the Hokage office. "Sasuke…" Sasuke turned to face her.

_Sakura looked him in the eyes. "I…I was wondering… could you, maybe, help me train? I…I'm tired of being in the way on missions…I want… to be able to help… more."_

_Sasuke stood there, dumbfounded. He had been expecting her to ask him on a date again, but this was a new one. He was at a loss for words._

_Sakura looked at him, then looked away. "Never mind… you probably don't have time…" She turned to walk away but was stopped in her tracks when she felt a firm hand grasp her wrist._

_She looked into those beautiful, onyx eyes she had come to love. "Sure." Sasuke said to her. She smiled at him._

"…_So, meet me at the gates tomorrow?"_

_Sakura looked at him and beamed. She nodded._

Today was that day. They had met at the gates and Sasuke led her to where he usually trained. When they first started, he was surprised at her skills already, but she still needed help. They began with simple hand-to-hand combat and found that Sakura was perfectly capable of defending herself and sending her own powerful punches. Sakura's advanced chakra control worked for her benefit. She trained by herself and sending chakra to her punches and kicks to make them more powerful, came second nature to her. But, what she really needed help with is her weapons handling.

That is what they were doing in the present. Sasuke and Sakura began fighting in the treetops. Sasuke was first. He threw kunai and shuriken at her for her to dodge them; for that is what he thought she should start with, agility. Agility would also help her to fight close combat.

Sasuke threw shuriken at her and she jumped up to grab a branch. She chose to jump up from instinct, Sasuke had told her to follow it when dodging, so she did. She looked up to grab the branch and swung herself forward to land on the branch in front of her. She landed with a soft thud but before she could jump to the next one, she was falling. The branch snapped in two. "Shit!"

Sakura looked down, there were no branches near enough to grab onto. She was almost twenty feet above the ground and she was falling, fast. Sasuke didn't hesitate. He landed on a branch and pushed off of it, going straight for Sakura. He caught her in his arms and landed on a nearby tree. He set her down. "You OK?"

Sakura looked at him and smiled. "See, I'm useless…" She was fighting down tears; partly from embarrassment and partly because Sasuke was forced to save her for the second time. "I just… I'm-"

"You're not useless. It could have happened to anyone." Sasuke interrupted her. "Lets stop for today… It's getting late."

Sakura looked up, the sun was setting, she hadn't even noticed. "Yeah… and Sasuke… thanks… for everything." Despite knowing that Sasuke would hate her if she did, she hugged him for a couple of seconds and jumped down from the trees.

"I have a plan…" Orochimaru said as he watched Sasuke tell Sakura to meet him at the same place, same time tomorrow and turn to walk to home. "We'll lure him…"

"Use the girl?" Kabuto asked.

Orochimaru nodded. "Stay in the shadows… Don't reveal yourself unless someone approaches while I am with Sasuke."

"Understood."

Sakura took a detour before heading home. She went to a hill, not far from where they were training, to watch the sun set. She always went here to watch it, almost every night, to be exact. She loved how the sun radiated beautiful pinks and oranges into the sky, and how peaceful it made everything seem.

Sakura sat there silently, rocking as she hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them. All was peaceful until she heard a rustle behind her. She let out a piercing scream that echoed into the sky. What she saw horrified her. She tried to move her legs but couldn't. She felt so scared that she was paralysed. All she could do was stare in horror as it circled her; forked tongue tasting the air.

"Well, well… it's been a long time, Sakura."

"Orochimaru." She said venomously. Sakura hated that man, monster, with all of her heart. She could never forgive him for making Sasuke suffer.

Sasuke snapped his head behind him. He had heard that scream before; it was the same one he heard when he and Naruto were fighting Haku, and Kakashi fighting Zabuza. He obediently turned around, and ran full speed to Sakura. _What's going on? _He thought.

He reached the clearing in the woods where they had started training. She wasn't there. Sasuke didn't know what was going on, but he knew that she was in trouble. He could tell by her scream. He closed his eyes and opened them. His original dark eyes were replaced with the sharingan. He scanned the surrounding area to feel her chakra. He sensed it coming from the hill he normally went to to watch and stare at the stars.

Sasuke jumped into the treetops with all of the speed he could muster and hurried to her. His cursed-seal began to send pains down his back and left arm. _Could it be? Could it be… him? _Sasuke thought reaching up to the back of his neck.

Sasuke reached the hill within minutes. He landed and his heart skipped a beat. Sakura was hanging loosely inside of a huge snakes mouth. She was unconscious and had blood going down her arm and dripping to the grass from her fingers and from her leg. The snake's fangs had pierced her near her right shoulder and left thigh.

At the sight of Sasuke's appearance, the snake biting Sakura lifted its head back and threw her into the sky, getting ready to swallow her whole. Blood sprayed in the air as the snakes fangs slid out from her body. Orochimaru laughed mercilessly as Sakura continued to fall and the sight of Sasuke jumping into the air to catch her. He flew over the snake and Orochimaru and landed with a soft thud behind the snake.

Before Sasuke could even think of what to do, he found himself running. He didn't know where, but all he wanted to do was get Sakura away from _him_, from _it_. He cringed as he felt her warm blood run and drip from his arm. He was at a loss for words, he could feel her heart beat, but her breathing came in small gasps. _Did it hit one of her lungs? _He thought as he looked down at Sakura's wound. Her thigh wasn't bleeding as bad as her chest, but he needed to get her to the hospital.

Sasuke turned his head to look behind him for any sign of Orochimaru but he wasn't in sight.

Sasuke stopped on a thick tree branch and layed Sakura down. She wouldn't make it to the hospital if her wounds bled openly. He reached into her hip pouch and withdrew her bandages, as well as from his own. He wrapped her thigh tightly to stop the bleeding, but paused when it came to her chest. He didn't know how to wrap it; it was in an odd place. He decided to lift her up and rest her against his chest while he clumsily wrapped it; he used all of the bandages and rested her back down. He checked her pulse and his eyes darkened. _She lost too much blood, her heartbeat weak… _He thought desperately reaching down to pick her up and head to the hospital, but stopped in his tracks as he heard cold laughter coming from behind him. It was Orochimaru.

"My dear Sasuke, how pitiful you have become… Trying to save her life when she is on the brink of death and won't last another hour without treatment." He laughed again. Sasuke was shaking with rage.

"What do you want?" He asked; his voice shaking. _I don't have time for this! _He thought.

Orochimaru laughed and disappeared. He appeared right in front of Sasuke and kicked him down, bending down to Sakura in the process. "You are weak Sasuke… I can make you stronger…" He held a kunai at her throat. "You can't even protect those precious to you…"

Sasuke stood up, shakily, and performed a couple of seals. His hand blazed with the chidori, chittering in his hand. He wouldn't let Sakura die, not now, and he was not about to let Orochimaru of all people kill her. "Get… away from her!" He yelled and ran as fast as Lee; using his sharingan to copy his speed, just like Kakashi had told him.

Orochimaru withdrew the kunai from her throat and stood up straight. His face was contorted with a malicious smile. _Yes, use and channel your hatred… Break the cursed-seal and use my power! _Sasuke was right in front of him and Orochimaru grabbed his hand, stopping Sasuke in his tracks. "You are weak… You can't save her!" He said, throwing Sasuke again.

Sasuke was prepared; he hit the tree with his chakra-focused feet and rebounded to Orochimaru. Orochimaru hadn't expected this and found himself unable to move out of the way in time. Sasuke had manoeuvred in mid-air and kicked him, sending him into a nearby tree. "I am not weak! And I won't use your stupid cursed-seal!" He said. He remembered the look on Sakura's face as she stopped him in the second part of the Chuunin Exams. Pure fear was on her face, he never wanted to see that again.

Orochimaru was smiling, which eventually turned into laughter. "I underestimated you… What does she mean to you?"

Sasuke looked behind him at Sakura. "She is someone… precious to me… and I won't let her die or use your power to save her."

"You may have the strength to save her… but when it comes to facing your brother… you won't stand a chance." Orochimaru said to him. "You will need my power, Kakashi cannot make you strong enough to beat him… I can."

Sasuke looked up at Orochimaru, smiling. "No… you're wrong, it's not Kakashi who will make me stronger…" _It's her… _

Orochimaru laughed. "Well, it seems it will take some time before you will come to me…" With that said, Orochimaru disappeared into the tree.

Sasuke didn't hesitate. He turned around and felt for Sakura's pulse. It was faint, but still there. He picked her up and went at full speed, sending chakra to his feet. _I don't have much time! _

The bandages that covered her wounds were soaked through with blood. They had slowed the flow of blood, but didn't stop it completely. Images of Sakura dead in his arms clouded his mind. _No… _He wouldn't let her die, not now. Now that he finally realised what she meant to him. She had always told him that she loved him, that she'd do anything for him but he always turned her away. Now, it was his turn; he would die before letting Sakura die.

Sasuke paced inside of the waiting room. Sakura had already been in there for an hour and he was starting to panic. _What's taking that damned Tsunade so long?!_

It was like Tsunade had read his mind, because moments after he thought that, she came through the door, with a smile on her face. He looked at her, waiting for her to explain. "She'll be fine." Sasuke sighed and sat down, shaking slightly. "But, what happened?"

Sasuke looked up. "…Orochimaru." He said quietly, glaring at nothing in particular. Tsunade gasped.

"Orochimaru?!" Tsunade ran out of the hospital, to the ANBU headquarters. Sasuke watched her go as he stepped out of the door and into the hallway.

Sasuke heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Shizune walking towards him, smiling warmly. "Sasuke, you can see her now. She is in room 304 on the third floor. She's asleep, but she will be all right. She'll probably be asleep for the rest of tonight and part of tomorrow, that's my guess." Sasuke nodded and walked past her towards the stairs.

Sasuke opened the door quietly and stepped in. He looked at Sakura laying there, breathing normally again. He went over to her and checked her pulse, _just in case… _He thought and was satisfied when it was normal and sat down, watching her.

Not long after Sasuke sat down, a sad looking Kakashi and a distraught looking Naruto entered the room. Naruto clenched his hands so hard, his knuckles turned white. _She's so pale… _He thought sitting down on the other side of Sasuke. "Sasuke… What happened?" He asked holding Sakura's cold hand and looking at all of the red blood that was still on Sasuke's arms and hands.

Sasuke looked at Kakashi. Kakashi knew who Orochimaru was, but Naruto didn't; he only heard his name before. "It was Orochimaru…"

Kakashi looked up in surprise, he couldn't believe his ears. _What could he possibly gain from killing Sakura? _He asked himself as he looked back at Sakura. There was nothing worse for a jounin-sensei to see their students in this state. 

As Sasuke explained what happened, Kakashi couldn't help but let his anger show. His one eye was opened wide and his jaw was visibly clenched beneath his mask. Even though he wore the mask, anyone could tell that he was angry.

"Where is he? I'll kill that bastard! Believe it!" Naruto said standing up.

"Relax Naruto, he is long gone… Even the ANBU won't be able to find him now." Kakashi said quietly. "And be quiet! Let Sakura rest."

Naruto was fuming and he sat back down reluctantly. He looked back at Sakura and stood up. "I can't just sit here… I need to… train… or something." And he walked out of the room.

Kakashi sighed. "Well… I better go and make sure he doesn't hurt himself…" And Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke was alone now. He continued to watch Sakura breathe and sleep peacefully. He reached for her hand and held it tightly, surprised at how cold it was. He noticed the blood on his hands and remembered how much she was bleeding. He couldn't help but blame himself; it was him Orochimaru wanted, not Sakura, but he had used Sakura to get to him, it was his fault. If he had been stronger, he would have been able to kill Orochimaru when they were in the forest of death. He would never have gotten the stupid cursed-seal, and Sakura wouldn't have almost died. Sasuke was snapped out of his train of guilt when he felt Sakura's hand move in his. He looked at Sakura; she was still sleeping. It was late, well past midnight and Sasuke was starting to feel drowsy. He went to the bathroom and washed off most of the blood.

When he returned Sakura was still sleeping. He sat back down and held her hand once again, when she woke up, he wanted to be there, he wanted her to know that he wouldn't let anything happen to her again. As he watched over her, his eyelids became heavy and sleep threatened to over come him. He decided to close his eyes, just to rest them, but ended up drifting off to sleep.

Sasuke woke up as the sun was beginning to rise. He was still holding onto Sakura's hand. She hadn't moved, she was still laying on her back with her hands at her side. The colour had come back to her cheeks but her body was still cold.

Sasuke looked at her bandaged shoulder and remembered how the snake had her in its mouth, how it could have killed her so easily. Sasuke always knew that she was important to him, as a teammate, and Naruto. But now, because he held her dying form in his arms and felt her blood dripping off of his arms, he realised he cared for her more than just as a teammate.

Sasuke got up and walked to the door, he turned to get one last look at her before going back to his house. As he was walking down the stairs to get to the bottom floor of the hospital, he passed Ino. She looked up at him.

"Oh, Sasuke!" She exclaimed.

Sasuke gave her a slight nod and started to continue walking when Ino stopped him.

"Is Sakura alright?" She asked eyeing the blood on his clothes.

He looked up at her worried eyes. "Yeah. She's just sleeping right now." He turned away and continued to walk down the stairs. Ino didn't stop him.

Sasuke walked slowly to his house, and when he finally got there, he took a long, cold shower. He stood under it, watching red water flow through the drain. _Sakura's blood… _He thought. He lifted his hands up, they were shaking; he quickly got out of the shower. _I need to get back to the hospital. _He thought ashe got dressed in his normal blue, high collared shirt and white shorts. Despite the protests from his stomach, he left the house without eating.

He jumped up onto the rooftops where he would be able to get there fast; without the usual crowds of people getting in the way.

Sasuke walked up to room 304, he quietly opened the door and stepped in. It had changed since he had been there, only hours before. The dark room had the drapes open to let the sun shine in. There were three different vases full of flowers on the windowsill. Sasuke walked over to them. He looked at the first one, which consisted of daisies and red yellow roses. They were from Ino; he had seen her carrying them earlier. The other had yellow daffodils. He looked at the card and saw that they were from Lee. The last one was smaller. It had only one flower in it, only one stem. It was a branch off of a cherry tree and it had one sakura flower on it. It was from Naruto.

Sasuke looked at all of the flowers and sighed. He hadn't gotten her anything. He thought it was stupid. You give someone flowers, sure they're beautiful, but after a couple of days they wilt and die. He turned around and looked at Sakura. She was still asleep although it looked as though she had already been awake. She had one hand above her head, resting on the pillow, and the other hanging loosely off of the edge of the bed. Sasuke pulled up a chair and sat down, and gently took her hand in his. It wasn't cold anymore, but warm.

A breeze went through the open window and blew her hair into her face. She lifted her hand up and brushed her pink hair out of her eyes. Her eyes opened lazily and she looked at Sasuke. Trying to focus to see who it was. She gasped.

"Sa-Sasuke." She blushed and tried to sit up when she clenched her eyes shut in pain. _That's right… I was bitten. _She reached up to her chest and placed a hand to where the snake's fang had pierced her.

Sasuke watched her, worry on his face. He squeezed her hand. Sakura looked up, surprised; she had just realised he was holding her hand.

"Sakura… I'm sorry." Sasuke said, looking down.

Sakura watched him. "For what?"

Sasuke continued to look down. "It's my fault… Sakura… you almost died because of me."

Sakura looked at him and used her other hand to slowly prop herself up into a sitting position. "Sasuke, it's not."

Sasuke looked up to her green eyes. "Because I was close to you, Orochimaru used you to get to me. Because I had anything to do with you… he tried to kill you, and almost did kill you… and don't pretend like it's not my fault… because it is." He said quietly.

Sakura put her hand on his shoulder and manoeuvred herself to sit on the edge of the bed. "Even if it is, I don't blame you. The fact of the matter is, I'm here, aren't I?"

Sasuke continued to look at her. She was smiling warmly at him. "Sasuke, because of you… I'm alive, thank you."

Even though Sakura was smiling, acting like she was all right. She was angry, angry with herself for not being able to do anything. Getting beat by a giant snake. _Exactly, a giant snake…_ What could she have done against something like that? Even if she had managed to beat the snake, what about Orochimaru? She wouldn't stand a chance against him; even her sensei would have a hard time. But still, seeing Sasuke worried, knowing that she had caused it, made her angry, yet happy, as he was worried about _her_. She didn't want anyone to worry about her, even him; she wanted to be able to fend for herself. So people wouldn't have to be worried about her.

Her train of thought began to read on her face as she removed her hand from Sasuke's shoulder and looked down. "If anyone's sorry, it should be me. Because I am weak, because I couldn't even look after myself-."

Sasuke cut her off. "No, you're not weak, Sakura. No one could have killed a snake that big. And then Orochimaru to top it off, it was an unfair fight from the beginning."

Sakura felt tears come to her eyes. "But, I couldn't even fight back. I was… I was scared, I couldn't even move. I just sat there and watched that… that snake come at me. What kind of shinobi freezes like that?"

Sasuke watched as tears came down her face. "I was saved… _again!_ I…I promised myself I wouldn't be a nuisance. I promised I wouldn't worry anyone anymore! And look what I did! I hurt you! I-I hurt so many people because… because I was weak."

"Sakura, you can't expect people not to worry about you. And… you can't expect yourself to be strong enough to beat Orochimaru." Sasuke sighed. "And, you have friends who worry about you because they care about you, like you care for them. And me."

Sakura looked up, surprised at his last words. "What… what do you mean? _You?_"

"I mean I'll always be there for you. I won't let anyone hurt you again." He held her hand tightly in his. "I promise."

Sakura walked out of the hospital the next day. Despite feeling the pain in her leg when she walked, she refused to use crutches. She breathed in the sweat air and closed her eyes. She felt the warmth of the sun across her face and the gentle wind. She opened her eyes and gasped. Naruto was standing in front of her smiling. She stumbled backwards and strong hands caught her. She looked up at her sensei's masked face. From what she could see, he was smiling. He gently helped her to her feet.

"So, they let you out, huh?" He said.

"Y-yeah."

"That's great! Now we can all go eat some ramen together!" Naruto shouted.

Sakura looked beside her and saw Sasuke. His hands were in his pockets and he was smirking at her. She smiled back and began walking when Naruto and Kakashi started. Sakura stayed behind them, limping slightly, with Sasuke beside her.

"Are you Ok?" He asked.

Sakura looked up at him. "Yeah, it only hurts a little when I'm walking…" She rubbed her thigh gently. She looked ahead and laughed quietly when she saw Naruto doing a little dance. She supposed it was his 'ramen' dance. And Kakashi was silently walking, one hand in his pocket and reading the latest edition of Jiraiya's perverted books.

Sakura walked silently to the hill she always went to to watch the sun set. She felt a little weary though, as it was the place Orochimaru attacked her. She stopped at the edge of the forest and looked at the ground. It still had her blood on it. She shook her head and pushed herself forward. She sat down and hugged her knees to her chest. She rocked on the spot and hummed to herself, watching the sun set behind the mountains. It was beautiful. The sky had reds and oranges and yellows dancing around, radiating on the clouds.

Sasuke watched the horizon from his window as the sun began to set. He decided he would walk slowly to the hill, so he could watch the stars. By the time he would get there, the sun will have set.

Sakura watched as the last little bit of sun hid behind the mountains, leaving the sky dark. She stood up and walked towards the pathway that led back to Konoha. When she reached the pathway, she stopped, there was someone there, walking towards her. It was now pitch black outside, and she couldn't see a thing. Sakura froze, as the figure got nearer, there were familiar features.

"Sasuke?" She asked quietly.

"Sakura? What are you doing out here?" He asked.

She smiled. "I come here to watch the sun set. That's what I was doing when…" She looked down. "What are you doing here?"

"I usually come here to clear my head. And… look at the stars"

"Oh. Well see you tomorrow…"

As Sakura began to walk past him on the trail, Sasuke reached for her hand and stopped her.

"I, uh, need to talk to you." He said.

"Oh, Ok."

Sasuke took her hand in his and walked over to the hill and sat down, pulling her gently down with him. He sat there for a while staring up at the sky, then layed down on his back with his arms behind his head.

"Sasuke?"

He looked over at Sakura. "You are the only person who actually doesn't annoy me."

Sakura looked at him, not sure to take it as a compliment or as an insult.

"I mean, you … ever since the Chuunin Exams, you've changed, Sakura. You changed from being annoying, to actually… nice to be around."

Sakura watched him, not knowing what to say, she was at a loss for words.

"I know what you did… while Naruto and I were unconscious. Shikamaru told me."

Sakura smiled. "Well… I couldn't let them hurt you guys… I had to do something."

Sasuke continued to watch her. "Why didn't you tell us what really happened?"

"I… I don't know… I guess I didn't want all of the attention… Naruto would have been all over me."

Sasuke smirked. "Yeah, I guess… Sakura, I never did say thank you."

With this Sakura's head jerked up to look at Sasuke. Did he really just _thank_ her? Is this the Sasuke she knew? She smiled. "You don't need to thank me… besides, you and Naruto are always there save me… and I don't know what I'd do without you guys… you're my best friends."

"Well, that's what friends are supposed to do. But… Sakura, I don't think of you as a best friend."

Sakura looked at him, dumbfounded. "O-oh…"

Sasuke took her hand in his again. "Sakura… I… I care for you more than you know…"

She smiled.

"I… feel different about you lately… I… get this _feeling_ when I'm around you…"

Sakura's eyes widened and she stood up abruptly, taking a step back; she knew what this _feeling _was that he was talking about. This definitely couldn't be Sasuke. It couldn't be, could it? "S-Sasuke?" She said breathlessly, barely over a whisper.

He stood up and opened his eyes to the sharingan. "It's me," He said, "see?"

Sakura continued to watch him, looking at his sharingan. _It is… him… _She smiled and blushed at her scepticism. "Yeah…"

Sasuke closed his eyes and opened them to their original dark irises. He smiled at her and stepped forward. Sakura continued to smile and stepped closer and hugged him. He hugged her back, tightly.

They both sat on the hill for the rest of the night, watching the stars, enjoying eachothers' company.

**Well, I had written this a while ago, and I thought I'd post it. **

**Hope you like it! R&R! Plzzzz!**

**Yes, I am still working on High school Romance, I've been busy with the beginning of school. 3 core classes in one semester isn't that easy at times… I promise ch. 3 will be done and posted by tomorrow!**


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